Texas bartender charged for serving alcohol to an already-drunk man who later went on a shooting spree leaving 8 people dead
A bartender, who was accused of serving alcohol to an intoxicated man in 2017 before he went on a shooting rampage, has been charged with a misdemeanor, according to recent reports. Lindsey Glass was arrested April 30 and charged with allegedly violating a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code titled 'Sale to Certain Persons'.
The code states: "A person commits an offense if the person with criminal negligence sells an alcoholic beverage to a habitual drunkard or an intoxicated or insane person." According to NBCDFW, the charge carries a fine of up to $500, up to a year in jail, or both.
Glass, who was a bartender at Local Public House in Plano, violated the code by serving drinks to 32-year-old Spencer Hight, after he displayed signs of intoxication at the bar. While Glass was unaware of his intentions, Hight went on a rampant shooting spree after having his drink, killing eight people at a Dallas Cowboys-watching party.
According to a report, Glass had texted another bartender saying Hight was in the bar earlier on the day of the mass shooting and "had 2 gins and he only had 2 beers and a shot when he came back [sic] I think he was at another bar while he was gone." Another text from Glass stated, "Spencer has a big knife on the bar and is spinning it and just asked for his tab and said I have to go do some dirty work ... Psychoooooooo."
A medical examiner in the case stated later that Hight had a blood alcohol level four times the state's legal limit when he drove to his estranged wife's home and fatally shot her and seven other people last year. He was killed by police responding to the shooting call.
The victims of Hight's atrocities were identified as Meredith Hight; 33-year-old Anthony "Tony" Michael Cross; 24-year-old Olivia Nicole Deffner; 29-year-old James Richard Dunlop; 22-year-old Darryl William Hawkins; 31-year-old Rion Christopher Morgan; 28-year-old Myah Sade Bass and 25-year-old Caleb Seth Edwards.
While investigators said that Glass should have known better than serve alcohol to Hight, Glass' attorney Scott Palmer was critical of the charge. "It is shameful of the Plano Police department to go after the person who was vital in trying to stop the horrific events of that evening," he said in a statement.
"This arrest is not in the interest of justice and appears to be a last-ditch effort by the Plano PD to make someone pay." He further said that detectives initially commended Glass and told her that she saved lives. "Lindsey Glass is the person who called 911," he said. "Not only did she know Spencer but she was friends with Meredith and was supposed to be at the party that evening."